EXPAND AUTHORITY TO FILE PROPERTY COMPLAINTS

When the Cape Girardeau City Council meets next week, one proposal on the agenda will be changes in the property maintenance code that would allow more residents to file complaints about rundown property. Currently, only residents who live within 200 feet of such property are permitted to file formal complaints, and only occupants of rental units with problems inside the structure are allowed to file complaints.

There currently are provisions for complaints to be filed by the police chief, but those involve the likelihood of other criminal activity, such as a drug house. The current practice doesn't provide for residents to go to the police chief to file routine complaints.

Complaints are made at the city's inspections office, which has the responsibility for looking into the complaints and taking appropriate action. In general, complaints result in an on-site inspection by an inspector. If code violations are found, property owners are advised and given a period of time to remedy the situation. If the code requirements aren't met within the specified time, a citation is issued, and the case goes to municipal court. In all but a few cases, complaints are resolved without a citation being issued.

One of the changes being sought by various community organizations is to allow any city resident to file a complaint about any rundown property within the city limits. This would remove the 200-foot limit, which has not only restricted the number of overall complaints, but also has helped prevent complaints that might be filed out of spite.

The good thing about the push to change the ordinance is that there are quite a few people who are seriously interested in the community's appearance and who want to see eyesores cleaned up. In some cases, other ordinances apply to the situation. Junk cars and high weeds are examples. They are covered by the city's nuisance ordinance, and anyone in the city can file a complaint in these instances.

The process that is initiated by a formal complaint provides an orderly follow-up, even if the complaint is unfounded. Property owners are pretty much protected from harassing citizen complaints because of the required review by the inspections office and the opportunity to take corrective action before being cited.

One change that might be worth considering would be to give broader authority to the inspections director to file complaints. Currently, only complaints filed by citizens who meet the ordinance's limits result in any official action. It seems appropriate that some qualified city official ought to have the power to initiate remedial action in situations where there are obvious problems but no formal complaint has been filed.